Understanding the reasons why your car insurance rate increased can be highly frustrating and confusing. Most car insurers treat their pricing algorithm as their “secret sauce” and are intentionally vague about why car insurance prices have changed. We break out 10 of the most common reasons why your car insurance rates may have increased. Many of these are obvious, but some may surprise you!
The Reasons Why Your Car Insurance Rate Increased:
1. You Bought a More Expensive Car
If you have collision and/or comprehensive coverage that protects your own car, the value of your car will impact your insurance premium. Your insurance company will need to repair or replace the car it if it is damaged, a more expensive car costs them more money!
2. You Drive More Often
If you increase the time that you are on the road it is more likely that you will get in an accident, even if you are a safe driver. For this reason, many insurers will ask how many miles you drive per year and an increase in your time on the road will likely increase your car insurance rates
3. Your Credit Score Dropped
Although credit scores don’t directly impact your driving behavior, many insurers have determined that credit score plays an important role in how likely someone is to get in an accident. Studies have shown that those with higher credit scores are generally more mature, safer drivers and take better care of their cars. Three states (California, Hawaii, and Massachusetts) have outlawed the practice of pricing based on credit score, but in nearly all other states credit score is used.
4. You Moved to a More Risky Area
Insurers define risky locations in three primary ways. If you move to an area that has worse weather, higher crime, or more dangerous drivers your car insurance rates may increase.
- Weather: if you moved to an area where there is hail or other damaging weather, this can raise the price of your insurance. If you have comprehensive coverage your insurer is responsible for weather-related damage to your car and will charge you more for the higher risk.
- High Crime: similar to the weather, if you have a comprehensive policy, your insurer is on the hook if your car is broken into or stolen. Insurers will certainly factor the increased risk of crime into their pricing decisions.
- Higher Accident Rates: if you live in an area where there are plenty of bad drivers and people constantly getting into accidents that can also cause car insurers to raise their prices.
5. You Got Married
Similar to credit score, your marital status doesn’t directly impact your driving behavior. However, studies have shown that married drivers are generally safer drivers than their single counterparts. In fact, a study by ConsumerFed found that 4 out of 6 insurers raised rates by 20% on average when a married driver became widowed.
6. You Have Gotten Older
Younger drivers have less experience driving and tend to make riskier decisions behind the wheel. Insurers factor this into their decision-making and increase premiums significantly for younger drivers (particularly teenagers who just got their licenses!).
7. You Had a Driving Incident
This one is obvious, but if you recently got a ticket or got into an accident you are considered a much higher risk to your insurance company. This will unfortunately typically result in a higher price for your car insurance.
8. You Added a Driver to Your Policy
If you add another driver to your policy – especially a higher-risk or younger driver – your car insurance rates might increase. This is because your insurance company now has to cover two drivers instead of just one!
9. Inflation Increased
Unfortunately, this one is out of your control. If inflation is high, then your insurance company’s costs will increase – it will be more expensive for car insurers to repair or replace your car. Many insurers will subsequently raise your car insurance prices to offset their higher costs.
10. You Lost a Discount
Many car insurance companies provide introductory discounts to new drivers. After a certain period of time, this introductory discount might lapse and result in an increase in your car insurance rates.
Conclusion
Insurers constantly tweak their pricing models, but the general rule of thumb is that anything that makes you more likely to get in an accident or have your car damaged will likely increase the cost of your insurance. Unfortunately, you will never know for sure why your car insurance rate increased, so it can be very difficult to lower pricing based on your actions alone. This is why we recommend regularly comparing prices often between car insurance companies, you never know who might offer you a better price!